Today we though that we might completely change the direction for Wikidot OpenSource. This would deprecate the previous Wikidot 1.0 Roadmap. Also this solution deprecates wdLite (which was a big dirty hack).

Single wiki mode

The main difference is introducing a new Wikidot installation mode: "sigle wiki mode" and setting it as the default instead of "wiki farm mode".

What does it mean?

you don't have to bother about:

domains (DNS)

mail configuration

root access (you can start Wikidot on custom port — default 8080)

you get direct administration panel for managing users

But:

you get only ONE single wiki

you cannot create more wikis

every IP/DNS address pointing to the started server (and corresponding port) displays THE wiki

no mail invitations or password recovery

no HTTPS

Lighttpd

Our main webserver is now Lighttpd, we forget about Apache. We can do this, because now you can run your regular Apache server on :80 port and Lighttpd serving Wikidot on :8080 (or other). They don't overlap, so there's no need to keep the compatibility.

Wikidot is a full web service with its dedicated web server running on separate port. This is the philosophy.

Scripts

To make Wikidot easily installable, we're going to create a script (possibly a Makefile) that will simplify the whole process. It would be 4 steps:

install dependencies

setup the database

edit ini file (supply database credentials)

make

Dependencies are Lighttpd, PHP, PostgreSQL, ImageMagick and maybe a few other things. Each of them can be installed without root access, but with root access it would be just as easy as

aptitude install lighttpd php5-cgi postgresql-8.3 ImageMagick

(or so)

Running/stopping Wikidot:

./wikidotctl start

./wikidotctl stop

Next steps

Once all this is done (which isn't too much work BTW), we could make a *.deb package, that would take care of dependencies, database, creating a special user for wikidot, setting the root directory by convention and installing init script in proper place. Then you would just:

/etc/init.d/wikidot start/stop/restart

This should kill all Wikidot-is-to-hard-to-install issues.

… upgrade to wiki farm

Once you have your single-wiki Wikidot up and running you may want to upgrade to full featured wiki farm solution. The one-wiki would become the main wiki (as is www.wikidot.com for the Wikidot.com service), other wikis would be able to be created. On the other hand, as your getting more powerful, you need to configure your DNS (have a domain-class just for your wiki farm), mail service and move the service to the main HTTP port (80).

The hardest thing

Q: What is the hardest thing to do in that plan?
A: The hardest thing is to create a module to manage wiki users.

More posts on this topic

Comments

This sounds very, very cool! However, one issue some may find frustrating is the lack of Apache support. Those interested in running Wikidot OS on a separate hosting service might have a hard time finding a host that uses Lighttpd. Because I run my own server, this is not an issue for me. In fact, I'm delighted I'll be able to run Lighttpd and Apache side-by-side! I haven't looked in a while, but I know it isn't easy finding a host that provides PostgresSQL and I don't recall many, if any, offering Lighttpd unless you pay a lot more for a dedicated hosted server where you can install whatever you want.

For Wikidot OS to be widely used and grow in popularity, having this easier to install version should help a lot. Having a version that will run on more hosting services is something I think you should keep as a goal - even if it is down the road.

I can't wait to see the final result of this initiative! With the install getting so easy, I have a feeling my site might have to go in a new direction soon! ;)

This sounds very, very cool! However, one issue some may find frustrating is the lack of Apache support. Those interested in running Wikidot OS on a separate hosting service might have a hard time finding a host that uses Lighttpd. Because I run my own server, this is not an issue for me. In fact, I'm delighted I'll be able to run Lighttpd and Apache side-by-side! I haven't looked in a while, but I know it isn't easy finding a host that provides PostgresSQL and I don't recall many, if any, offering Lighttpd unless you pay a lot more for a dedicated hosted server where you can install whatever you want.

I think the problem is not that big.

There are basically 3 kinds of people interested in having wiki:

want wiki for something not that important, want to host it anywhere, want to pay nothing or almost nothing

want wiki for their project at their work or school, what to host it on their hardware (possible side-by-side with other software) in their local network and give access to it to small group of people (project members, boss, maybe some customers)

want full-featured wiki farm or wiki hosting environment

The solutions for the 3 groups were the following

get a free wiki on Wikidot.com

install a MediaWiki or other wiki engine

get Wikidot software from wikidot.org and start their farm (local or public)

We want people to install Wikidot instead of MediaWiki, but this is not that easy, because MediaWiki is just wiki engine for one wiki and Wikidot a full-featured wiki farm and requires more configuration.

And now, this is going to change. If you want a single wiki you won't have to have root permissions, specific Apache/Lighttpd configuration (because Wikidot starts its own Lighttpd process, that has any configuration it needs, so it doesn't touches original Lighttpd/Apache configuration files). You don't have to bother about domains and mails.

I hope it clarifies why Apache compatibility is not that important.

PS: even when your machine don't have Lighttpd, PHP and PostgreSQL installed (but you have a regular user account), you can compile them by hand and start the server on 8080 port (80 is reserved for root), so in overall, you can install Wikidot without asking administration for any help!

I'm glad you guys are trying to implement this. Right now I'm using in-line frames to display my wikis on my website. Pow-web has issues with domain pointing (grrr).

Anyway, my only 2 solutions were to do the in-line frame or choose media wiki (which is very user friendly installation-wise). I hope you guys figure a solution soon. I'm not a programmer, just a simple CSS/HTML Mechanic, so I wish I could do more. Right now all I can do is just keep spreading the word!

I don't actually know what the "point" would be other than I just think it would be neat! I don't really want to redirect, but anyways, I guess you're probably right. I'll just stick with what I've got!

I think there is no point if you can get a similar (or even better) wiki for free at wikidot.com. You can't get MediaWiki easily (with such a good support), that's why it needs to be installed here-and-there-and-everywhere.